Level 1 Quotes
Real-time market data showing the best bid, best ask, last sale price, and trading volume for a security.
What is Level 1 Quotes?
Level 1 quotes are the basic tier of real-time market data available to investors, providing the national best bid and offer (NBBO), the last sale price, and daily trading volume for a security. The NBBO shows the highest price any buyer is willing to pay (best bid) and the lowest price any seller will accept (best ask) across all U.S. equity exchanges at any moment. Level 1 data is sufficient for most retail investors placing simple buy or sell orders. It contrasts with Level 2 quotes, which display the full order book—showing all bids and asks at multiple price levels from multiple market participants—used by active traders to gauge market depth and liquidity. Many online brokerages provide Level 1 data for free, while Level 2 typically requires a subscription. Level 1 data is consolidated and disseminated through the Securities Information Processor (SIP).
Example
A retail investor checks their brokerage app and sees Tesla (TSLA) Level 1 data: Bid $248.50 / Ask $248.60 / Last $248.55 / Volume 32.4M shares. This tells them the tightest current bid-ask spread and recent trading price—enough to place a limit order confidently. A day trader needing more detail would upgrade to Level 2 to see the full order book depth.